Suspect In McDonald's Attempted Robbery Goes Before Judge

A convicted habitual felon who police say robbed one Greenville restaurant and tried to rob a second one made his first court appearance this morning.

Joseph Bradshaw of Gates is accused of trying to hold up the McDonald's on East 10th Street just before 11:00 a.m. Thursday. Police were there almost immediately and nabbed the suspect as he walked out of the restaurant.

The Gates County man is also accused of holding up Jimmy Johns Gourmet Subs on Moye Boulevard the night before. In that robbery the man got away with $200 in cash.

Bradshaw, who has 71 convictions on his rap sheet, will continue to be held in the Pitt County jail on a $500,000 bond. His next court date is October 20th.

Previous Story

Police have charged a Gates County man with the attempted robbery of a McDonald's Restaurant in Greenville yesterday and the robbery of another eatery earlier this week. That man has a lengthy criminal record with 71 convictions dating back to 1984.

Joseph Bradshaw from Gates was arrested after he left the East 10th Street restaurant around 11:00 a.m. Police say they haven't figured out why the 57-year-old man was in Greenville.

It took Greenville police just a matter of seconds to arrive at the robbery at the McDonald's near ECU's campus.

Employees say they crawled out rear windows of the business to safety during the hold-up. Some 10 to 15 people were inside the restaurant at the time.

Police say Bradshaw implied that he had a weapon, though none was found. Sgt. Carlton Williams says the first officer arrived just ten seconds after the first call went out at 10:54 a.m.

For both employees and customers it was a scary few minutes. "I was going out to the car to tell my boyfriend I loved him and that's when the cop told me to get into the bush," said employee Theresa Williams. "And that's when I ran across the street and I looked from across the street and I saw my workers getting out of the back window."

Sgt. Williams says the McDonald's robber matches the description of a robbery suspect in last night's holdup of Jimmy Johns Gourmet Subs on Moye Boulevard. In that robbery the man got away with $200 in cash.

No one was injured in either robbery.

Bradshaw has 71 convictions since 1984 on his rap sheet. The latest show him convicted of being a habitual felon and six counts of felony breaking and entering in 2000. He was released from prison in 2006.

Online Public Information File

Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or fccinfo@fcc.gov.